


Tres Difficile

by ClaraxBarton



Series: 31 Days of Smut [11]
Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: 31 Days of Smut, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-17
Updated: 2016-03-17
Packaged: 2018-05-27 05:51:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6272395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClaraxBarton/pseuds/ClaraxBarton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A weekend of rock climbing produces some unexpected results.</p><p>2x3x5 requested by Maevemauvaise for The 31 Days of Smut</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tres Difficile

A/N: 2x3x5 Rock Climbing with playlist fights for Maeve and established 3x5 adding Duo for Amberly

A/N 2: I live for reviews. Even if it’s just “loved it” - every review makes my day and inspires me to write more.

A/N 3: So, The 31 Days of Smut was a challenge I set for myself and I have failed it. However, there are some amazing folks out there who have agreed to adopt some of the remaining requests/prompts. They will be posted on Archive of Our Own under The 31 Days of Smut collection, so please search that and you will find amazing things from really wonderful and talented writers. I’m sorry I couldn’t do all of these. I’ve removed the requests that were fic specific - the Lost Dreams request, the True Romance request and the If You Leave request. I will try to get to these but I’m honestly incredibly burned out after writing more than 55k for these 11 fics.

 

Warnings: angst, language, smut

Pairings: 3x5, 2x3x5

 

_ March 11:  _ _ Très difficile _

 

Trowa dropped the box onto Duo’s desk, satisfied that the other man jumped in surprise when it landed. 

Duo glared, looking between the box and Trowa, the bags under his eyes and the downward tug of his lips only confirming what Wufei had already told Trowa: Duo was in a bad way.

Trowa didn’t see him often - hell, he didn’t see  _ Wufei _ all that often for all that they shared a bed - since his position as an undercover agent for the Preventers took Trowa out into the field on extended missions. Duo, on the other hand, had proven within just two days of his first undercover mission that he was shit at it and much, much better as a field operative who could go in and openly - and often explosively -  take down a hostile facility. As such, Duo worked with Wufei more often, though Une preferred to keep them separated unless a mission absolutely called for their combined expertise.

When Trowa had returned from his latest assignment last week, Wufei and Duo had been out in the field on one of those rare dual missions, and when Wufei returned three days ago both he and Duo had been silent and furious, the expressions on both their faces as they went into and then came out of their debriefings with Heero and Une speaking volumes. 

Something had happened - Trowa had hacked into the database and seen the debriefing reports that indicated the mission was a success, that no excess material or personnel casualties were reported - but neither man said a word to him about it.

Not that Trowa and Duo were chatty - the most conversation the two of them ever had usually amounted to ‘pass me that wrench’ or ‘no, not that wrench, the other one’ as they tinkered on one project or another in Duo’s garage after a few beers.

But there had been no after work drinking or engineering endeavors since their return and Trowa had noticed that Duo and Wufei, who normally bickered with a familiarity that bred gossip about a torrid secret affair between them, had been chillingly polite to each other.

“What the hell is that?” Duo asked, bringing Trowa out of his thoughts. Duo made no move to touch the box. Trowa didn’t know whether that was purely survival instinct or a troubling indication that his curiosity was at an all time low.

“Things you’ll need. Be ready to go at oh-six-hundred tomorrow. You’ll need three or four days of clothes - flexible outdoor gear and something passable for casual evening wear.”

Duo’s slight frown turned into a full scowl.

“You’re kidnapping me for the weekend.”

Trowa shrugged one shoulder.

“Wasn’t my idea. I’m just in charge of laying out the provisions.”

Duo’s eyes narrowed.

“You can tell Chang to mind his own fucking business and leave  _ me  _ the -”

Trowa forced a yawn and Duo’s eyes turned arctic.

“Tell him yourself tomorrow morning. I’m not a messenger.”

Duo’s lips compressed and he reluctantly and cautiously opened the box.

He tipped the contents out onto his desk - a pair of soft soled climbing shoes and a guidebook.

“Fontainebleau?”

“Read up on it tonight. You don’t want to embarrass yourself in front of Wufei.”

And with that, Trowa turned on his heel and left.

He half expected to have the guidebook thrown at the back of his head as he walked down the empty row of cubicles, and by the time he turned the corner his own curiosity got the better of him.

He glanced over his shoulder and saw Duo, illuminated by the glow of his computer and the dim overhead lights, frowning at the guidebook as he opened it.

Well, that was something at least, Trowa thought. 

 

-o-

 

When he pulled up in front of Duo’s house the next morning the long haired man was sitting by the curb, duffel bag by his feet, coffee mug clutched between his hands.

Wufei, sitting in the passenger seat, frowned.

“It looks like he didn’t even sleep,” he observed.

Trowa had to agree with that assessment. Duo looked even worse than he had the day before.

“No second thoughts?” Trowa asked Wufei as he pressed a button to pop the trunk of the car.

Wufei snorted. “A little late for them, even if I did.”

Trowa shrugged. “We could just drive off - Duo is so pissed off at you for whatever happened on your mission that I think us leaving him on the curb won’t make much of a difference.”

Trowa’s words had his desired impact - Wufei clenched his jaw in anger and self-recrimination and opened the passenger door.

Trowa felt only the slightest bit of guilt for manipulating him - after all, this  _ had _ been Wufei’s idea to begin with.

He watched Wufei and Duo briefly struggle over Duo’s duffel bag before Duo surrendered it and allowed Wufei to throw it into the trunk with their own gear. Then Duo slid into the backseat of the car, slamming the door closed behind him so quickly he almost took Wufei’s fingers off, and Wufei, eyes narrowed and lips pinched, got back into the passenger seat and closed his own door with such careful precision that he might as well have slammed it as well.

Trowa barely refrained from snorting in amusement. 

_ This _ was certainly going to be a fun weekend.

He pulled away from the curb and navigated through Duo’s neighborhood before putting them on the highway bound for Fontainebleau. It was just over a four hour drive from Brussels - Trowa had every intention of cutting that down as much as possible, though Duo could probably trim it even more if Trowa let him have a go at the wheel - and Trowa was already dreading the time they would be trapped in the car together.

After fifteen minutes of brittle silence he turned on the car stereo system, selecting the playlist he had put together last night.

They had all picked up hobbies, strange civilian habits that, as teenage terrorists they probably would have laughed at even as they secretly envied anyone who had leisure time let alone the ability to think and do something not connected with fighting a war. Quatre had taken to breeding dogs - which Trowa found both bizarre and completely fitting since it was the perfect outlet for Quatre to nurture  _ and _ control things. Heero had taken up sport shooting and hunting to the surprise of absolutely no one - he might have promised never to kill again but the man might as well have been born with a gun in his hand considering how natural it was for him to hold one. Wufei’s hobby had less to do with pursuing new interests and more to do with reconnecting to the passions he had forsaken to fight during the war - their small home housed a small and eclectic library of books that Wufei added to on a regular basis as he devoured knowledge on almost any subject he could. Duo, of course, had taken to working on mechanical projects in his garage - from things as small as models of agro mechs to motorcycles to his pre-colony antique of a car. Trowa’s hobby had taken some adjusting to, on Wufei’s part, and even after living together for nearly three years he knew that the other man still found it odd but was willing to refrain from commenting on it. Trowa had developed a passion for pre-colony music in all its forms, tracking down recordings and old media devices and transferring the data to current tech and creating archives and playlists of his work. It provided an outlet for him that was far safer than routinely hacking into government databases, and it gave him an excuse to put on headphones and retreat from the world when he needed to. 

He had put together  _ this _ specific playlist with Duo in mind, based on what he knew about Duo and the spacers he had hung around. 

Of course, at six in the morning, he wasn’t surprised that all Duo did was sit in the back and glare out the window as he sipped on his coffee. Duo wasn’t a morning person under the best of circumstances.

He  _ was _ surprised, an hour into the drive, when Duo groaned in the middle of the Drowners “Let Me Finish” and sat up a little straighter.

“What is this crap anyway? Can’t you just put on the colony newsfeed?”

Trowa’s fingers tightened on the steering column in irritation. He forced himself to relax and he glanced back in the rearview mirror to see Duo looking right back at him - looking for a reaction. 

_ What an asshole _ , Trowa couldn’t help but think just a second before he realized it was exactly what  _ he _ would do if their situations were reversed.

Beside him, though, Wufei bristled and actually  _ snarled _ .

“Maxwell, you have -”

Trowa turned on the colony newsfeed and Wufei’s protest died under Trowa’s quick glance. 

Wufei muttered something under his breath that Trowa couldn’t hear.

In the backseat, Duo settled back down and returned to gazing out the window.

Trowa found himself wishing he had taken the emergency mission Une had messaged him about late last night instead of letting one of the other operatives have it. 

He really hoped that sooner, rather than later, Duo and Wufei had it out over whatever was bothering them and he hoped he didn’t get caught in the crossfire. Even  _ if _ they managed to have a civil confrontation, Trowa knew there was a deeper issue here. 

According to Wufei, Duo had been, if not despondent, certainly not his usual sarcastic and annoying self at work, for months now. Wufei wasn’t sure what had happened and seemed frustrated with himself for being unable to pinpoint when exactly Duo had started to change. Trowa had suggested, in a fit of pique when Wufei started talking about Duo in the middle of sex two months ago, that Wufei do something about it if it was bothering him so much.

That  _ something _ had, Trowa suspected, happened during their mission and it was as much the fallout of that as whatever had previously been bothering Duo that had led Wufei to suggest taking Duo with them to Fontainebleau for the weekend.

Bouldering had, to Trowa’s surprise, been Wufei’s idea the first time. His surprise had died in the middle of Wufei’s lecture on how rock climbing was actually an ancient Chinese venture that had been whitewashed by Europeans. It had been their first real date - Wufei taking him to an indoor climbing wall and teaching Trowa how to climb. Trowa had fallen for the sport just as quickly as he had fallen for Wufei and it was, like his lover, a natural fit after his time with the circus and his natural inclination towards athletics and especially anything that defied gravity. 

They tried to get out to  _ Bleau _ as often as possible - whenever they were both in Brussels and could take off for two or more days - but this was the first time they had ever taken anyone with them.

And, if Trowa had to make a prediction based on both Duo and Wufei’s sullen expressions, it might very well be the last.

 

-o-

 

They made good time and arrived at their hotel just after ten. Trowa had succeeded in getting Wufei to actually camp onsite at  _ Bleau _ once, had twice managed to drag him to one of the gites close to the forest, but, eventually, had agreed with Wufei that staying at a proper hotel known for it’s rather spacious bathtubs, had its perks. 

The Aigle Noir Hotel was very Old Terran, a former chateau build centuries before the colonies, the ancient structure had been well preserved.

Trowa greeted the front desk clerk.

“Two rooms under Barton.”

The clerk typed at his terminal and then shook his head.

“I’m sorry, I only have one room listed.”

Trowa frowned. “I called last night to change the reservation to two rooms.”

“I’m sorry, the clerk last night must have made a mistake. We only have the one room reserved for you.”

Trowa shrugged. “That’s fine, can I get a second room?”

The clerk looked abashed. “We’re all booked.”

“No worries,” Duo spoke up from behind Trowa. “I can just catch a train back to Brussels.”

“No,” Wufei snapped, “you’re staying. Can we have a cot added to our room?”

“Of course,” the clerk assured them. 

Trowa caught the glares Wufei and Duo exchanged and for a moment he almost felt like a parent shepherding annoying children around.

Once they got up to their room, Trowa was relieved to note the large couch as well as the space near it that would be ideal for Duo’s cot.

“So what’s the plan for this oh so fun and exciting adventure?” Duo asked as he dropped his duffel and threw himself onto the couch. 

Duo sounded like himself, sarcastic and just this side of bratty and Trowa looked up from his bag to see if Duo was wearing his infamous smirk.

He wasn’t.

Instead, Duo’s lips were in a thin line and he was staring at the curtained window, every line of his body and his expression conveying boredom and defeat.

Trowa looked over at Wufei and watched the man’s face shift from irritated to anguished. 

He wished Quatre was here -  _ he _ would know what to do, how to fix things between these two, how to get Duo to open up about whatever was affecting him.

The only thing Trowa could do was manipulate them and try to provoke a conflict that would force them to resolve things. He winced at the very idea, but as much as he wanted to discard it, he thought it was likely the only move he had available.

Trowa pulled out his backpack, full of snacks, chalk, resin and first aid equipment, and threw it at Duo.

The other man saw it coming, even with his attention elsewhere, and caught it just before it impacted with his head.

Duo glared at him and Trowa cocked an eyebrow.

“We’ll change into our climbing clothes, get lunch and head to the park. Unless you need a nap?”

Duo’s lips worked and it was clear he wanted to offer a sharp retort, but instead he shrugged and set the bag down. 

“I’m guessing you want me to carry this?” He asked as he stood up and started to rummage through his bag for clothes to change into.

“Thanks,” Trowa said and looked over at Wufei again.

He watched Wufei watch Duo, watched Wufei undress and dress absentmindedly while his attention stayed fixed on Duo as he did the same, watched Wufei’s eyes as they mapped Duo’s body, watched them narrow and then widen, watched his cheeks flush, and watched him finally look away and notice Trowa’s gaze.

Wufei’s cheeks turned an even brighter, more telling red.

Well.

That was unexpected.

Trowa’s mind instantly went down dark paths - Wufei had stared at Duo’s naked body and then been embarrassed to be caught staring by Trowa. Something had happened between Duo and Wufei on their mission. Something that Wufei refused to talk about, something that kept Duo from inviting Trowa over to work on the engine they had been taking apart last month.

Something that, Trowa realized, was probably guilt.

 

-o-

 

Lunch was tense and silent, the thankfully short car ride to the park even more so, and Trowa was relieved to get out of the car, grab a crash pad, and start hiking to the first climbing area. He found he didn’t even really care if Wufei and Duo followed him anymore.

Wufei had planned out where they would climb on the drive and he quickly caught up to Trowa, and took the lead.

Leaving Trowa between them, with an excellent view of Wufei’s ass in the nylon shorts he preferred to climb in. 

If they were alone, if he hadn’t just seen the way Wufei looked at Duo, if he hadn’t just realized what had likely happened on their mission, Trowa would have commented on that. But they weren’t, and he had, so Trowa remained silent as Wufei led them to Les Limaces, the first problem they would attempt. It was an easy rock - a great start for someone like Duo who, to their knowledge, had never bouldered before.

It was late in the season, the middle of October, and the area was thankfully free from other climbers. 

When they reached it, Trowa and Wufei set down their crash pads and Duo, fingers playing with the straps of the bag on his back, stood apart and looked between them and the rock.

“You read the guide?” Wufei asked him.

Duo nodded. “Still don’t understand why the fuck we’re doing this,” he muttered.

Trowa bit back his immediate response and remained silent. Let Wufei deal with this. It was, after all, his problem. 

“Bouldering requires a great deal of concentration.”

“And?” Duo sneered.

Wufei sighed.

“ _ And _ you could do with the distraction.”

Duo looked ready to snap but instead he drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Then by all means,” he said after a moment, “distract me.” 

Wufei walked over to him and Trowa watched Duo back up a step, watched his eyes narrow and his hands drop to his sides as he prepared to fend off an attack.

It made Wufei freeze in his tracks and had Trowa moving closer to them before he even realized it. 

“I need to get chalk from the bag,” Wufei said, his voice soft and low. 

Duo swallowed hard and his face turned red.

“Right. Of course.” He shucked it off and tossed it to Wufei before taking a few steps back.

Wufei took the bag and turned away from Duo, giving Trowa a very clear view of his face, his pained expression and clenched jaw.

Despite his own now  _ very _ conflicted feelings about this situation, Trowa knew it, without a doubt, that something needed to be done.

Of course, knowing that and acting on it were two completely different things.

Duo sat down on the ground, knees pulled to his chest and chin resting on them, while he watched Wufei climb and Trowa spot him.

Wufei tried to explain what he was doing, tried to indicate the marks on the rock that suggested the climbers path and movements, but after several minutes of Duo’s silent, blank stare, Wufei gave up and simply climbed.

They moved to the Dallafafa next, where Wufei spotted Trowa while he climbed and Duo once again sat silent and staring. 

After Trowa’s ascent he stopped in front of Duo and dropped his chalk bag at his feet.

“You’re up,” he said.

Duo looked from the chalk bag to Trowa’s face.

“I’m good,” he said.

“No, you aren’t.”

Duo’s jaw locked and he looked away.

“I’ll pass, is what I meant.”

“I know what you meant.”

“Then drop it, will you? You and Chang dragged my ass out here - I’m here. Now just leave me alone.”

Trowa rolled his eyes.

“Is the rock too much of a challenge for you? There are some smaller boulders a few hundred meters away - the kids like to climb them. Might be a nice start for you.”

Predictably, Duo sneered and picked up the chalk bag.

“The rock isn’t too fucking big,” he muttered and shoved past Trowa.

Trowa killed his smile of satisfaction before turning around to watch Duo start climbing, Wufei standing a few feet away from him, ready to make sure he didn’t break anything if -  _ when _ \- he fell.

Dallafafa was an easy problem, with several approaches, including one that Trowa had seen arthritic grandmothers take. Of course, Trowa had taken the hardest of approaches on this admittedly easy rock, counting on the fact that Duo would follow his lead. 

And of course he did.

While most of the approaches and holds followed an easy vertical path, Trowa had taken a more diagonal route that required stretching quite a bit to read the holds and levering the body from one side to the other. It was easy for him, would have been just as easy for Wufei. 

But for Duo, who had never climbed before, who could  _ read _ that he was supposed to utilize his legs for movement and his hands more for balance than anything else, it was a considerable challenge.

He made it higher than Trowa thought he would, before he fell.

Duo landed with an angry grunt and muttered swear on the crash pad and lay for a moment, glaring up at the sky.

“Get up,” Trowa called out. “Try again. If you can.”

Wufei shot him a look, his  _ what the hell are you doing _ look that usually made Trowa smirk but now just made him a little irritated. 

Duo muttered something under his breath but he got to his feet and he started to climb again.

He was angry, and hasty, and he didn’t make it even halfway as far as he had before when he fell this time. 

Trowa didn’t even have to goad him this time - he jumped right back up and started again.

When he slipped, but caught himself, after reaching for just the second hold, Trowa walked over and put a hand on the small of his back.

He felt Duo’s entire body tense at the touch.

“Relax. And focus on the rock. Focus on the  _ problem _ and forget everything else.”

He kept his hand on Duo’s back and waited for him to calm down, waited for his breath to even out and his fingers to relax just a little. 

When Duo pushed himself over to the next hold, Trowa stepped away.

Duo’s progress to the top was quick and easy after that, and even though he tried to hide it, both Trowa and Wufei saw his triumphant smirk.

 

-o-

 

The return trip to the hotel was silent again, but the tension had largely dissipated. It was a start, four hours of bouldering, but Trowa knew it wasn’t a  _ fix _ . Not for Wufei and Duo - not for Trowa.

Even if, over dinner, Duo asked if they were going to try more difficult problems the next day.

It was about the only conversation they had - Wufei immediately launching into possible areas they could go to and Duo listening attentively - and Trowa could tell that both men were relieved to have the safe topic, the unguarded words to fall back on.

That night, as Duo settled down on his cot in the living room and Wufei crawled into bed beside Trowa, things  _ almost _ felt normal. Almost.

Instead of throwing an arm over Trowa’s waist as he normally did, Wufei hugged the opposite side of the bed. 

Trowa  _ almost _ made himself not care. Almost.

 

-o-

 

Le Corps Billard was one of Trowa’s favorite problems. It wasn’t the most difficult in the climbing area, but it wasn’t easy and it required a lot of focus and effort. Not only did it have a challenging vertical element, but there were sections that required the climber to hang off the rock parallel to the ground and swing his body around to reach the next vertical holds.

Duo, as he looked up at it, was suitably intimidated.

“This might be a little  _ too _ advanced for me,” he said.

“No one’s died doing it,” Trowa said lightly as he adjusted the crash pad before starting his ascent.

“That you know of,” Duo muttered.

It was the kind of banter Trowa was used to from him, and if he hadn’t seen Wufei  _ smile _ then Trowa would have enjoyed it.

As it was, Trowa had to force himself to ignore the both of them as he started his ascent. He wasn’t about to let whatever the hell was going on cut into his concentration.

Even so, the ascent was difficult, more difficult than he remembered it being, and he fell three times before finally making it to the top.

“You might be right about this being too advanced,” Trowa had to agree when he made it back down to them.

Duo scowled and shook his head.

“Nah. I can do it.”

Trowa wanted to argue the point, but the determined set to Duo’s jaw had him passing over the chalk and stepping back. 

Duo fell, a lot, but it wasn’t until he reached the traverse section that had him hanging with his back to the ground that Trowa started to worry. And of course he fell.  _ Hard _ .

Both Wufei and Trowa started checking for breaks and telling him to hold still when he tried to move.

“I’m fucking  _ fine _ ,” Duo insisted and pushed their hands away as he sat up. “Chill out.”

He got back to his feet and smirked. Actually gave a genuine devil-may-care Duo Maxwell smirk as he started to ascend again.

When he made it to the top, he held his hands up in triumph.

“Ha!”

Trowa found himself smirking, found that he didn’t even mind the fond smile Wufei had on his face. 

It was good, very good, to see Duo happy again. 

 

-o-

 

But of course it didn’t last.

Trowa didn’t even know what happened, who said what or how Wufei and Duo went from sitting on the couch and looking at the guidebook together to standing up and snarling at each other.

He’d been in the shower and had come out naked except for the towel around his waist, to see them ready to tear each other’s throats out.

“...always know what’s best, is that it?” Duo snapped.

“ _ You _ clearly don’t know what’s best for you,” Wufei responded.

Duo’s fists were clenched and he slowly forced them open.

“You’re so fucking - how does it feel to sit on that pretentious tower of yours and judge the rest of us, huh? How’s it feel to be able to look down and decide who gets to fucking live and who gets to die? Feels good, I bet, to be so fucking careless with life.”

“I’m not the careless one, Maxwell!”

Wufei stepped forward and Duo, unlike yesterday, did not retreat. He stood his ground and held Wufei’s glare.

“What the hell happened on that mission?” Trowa spoke up before either one of them could.

They both turned to look at him, both looking guilty - though Duo’s guilt quickly turned to anger.

He sneered.

“You didn’t even tell him, did you? It mattered so fucking little to you that you didn’t even tell him about it. Fuck’s sake, Wufei, a  _ child _ -”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about, Duo,” Wufei cut him off, voice cold and quiet.

It wasn’t a tone Trowa heard often. Judging by the way Duo took a cautious step backwards, it was clear that he, like Trowa, recognized it as one to be wary of.

Wufei glanced between them before settling his attention on Trowa.

“I saved Maxwell’s life during the mission.”

“You burned down a  _ child _ ,” Duo argued.

“I shot a boy with a gun trained on you, yes,” Wufei said. 

“He was a  _ child _ !”

“He was going to murder you.”

“He was going to defend himself and get revenge for the people we’d just melted. He -”

“The people we’d just melted? You mean the criminals? The gun runners and the  _ slavers _ ?”

Duo’s jaw snapped shut and his eyes burned.

“They were his people, even if they were shit people, and he was a kid.”

Wufei shook his head.

“He was the same age as we were when we piloted the Gundams.”

“And that makes it okay? Of fucking course it does, doesn’t it? Shit - anything to preserve your sense of -”

“It wasn’t okay!” Wufei snapped and his eyes were a little wild, his expression beyond furious. “It wasn’t okay,” he repeated. “I killed a  _ child _ because  _ you _ stopped to try to resuscitate that woman and you were going to  _ die _ . So I made a choice. I choose you over him. And I didn’t tell Trowa about it because I murdered a  _ child _ for you.”

Wufei should have said something, should have told Trowa before now. This should not be the first time he was hearing about it. Trowa should not be thinking back to the last four nights, to Wufei clinging to the edge of the bed last night or wandering the house at three in the morning the previous nights or practically attacking Trowa and ripping his clothes off to fuck him. Trowa should not have ever had to think - should not have ever  _ chose _ to think - that it had been something else.

“You should have chosen him over me. You should have let me die.” Duo’s worse were harsh, his judgement cutting.

It happened before Trowa could react, happened before either of them probably even realized it.

Wufei threw himself at Duo, sending both of them crashing onto the coffee table, rolling, and landing on the floor in a struggle of flailing limbs.

They battled for purchase, Wufei straddling Duo and one hand fisted into his shirt while the other clung to his hair. Duo, meanwhile, had one hand shoving Wufei’s chin away to distract him and the other trying to push away the hand in his hair.

Trowa moved over to pull them apart, but Duo managed to upset Wufei’s balance and roll them and Trowa couldn’t get out of the way fast enough.

All three of them were on the floor, all three grappling for  _ what _ Trowa didn’t even know, but when he finally managed to push himself between the two of them, they were all breathing heavily, Duo’s lips were bleeding and Wufei was wincing and holding one hand over his left eye.

Well, he  _ had _ wanted them to have a confrontation.

“What would you have done?” Trowa asked.

It took a moment for Duo to tear his eyes away from Wufei, to concentrate on Trowa and even then, Trowa could see the glimmer of unshed tears in his eyes.

“What?” Duo asked, voice ragged.

“If someone had been holding a gun on Wufei, what would you have done?”

Duo swallowed hard and looked away from both of them.

“That’s not -”

“Wufei wasn’t the one who made a choice, Duo. That kid did. He  _ chose _ to make himself a target. He could have walked away - hell, he could have tried to attack you with his fists or a knife and I doubt Wufei would have even given him a second thought, but he had a gun on you. And you,” Trowa added, switching his gaze to Wufei, “didn’t murder anyone. You protected your partner and you preserved the mission. You did make a choice - you chose to protect Duo. You chose to do your  _ job _ .”

Duo looked mutinous at Trowa’s words but Wufei gave him a jerky nod.

“He didn’t deserve to die. We should be protecting kids like him, we should be -”

“You  _ do _ protect kids like him,” Trowa snapped. Duo looked hurt and then angry and Trowa sighed as he pushed his wet hair away from his face. “Everything you do, every  _ day _ since  _ you _ were a kid, has been about protecting him. You fought in a war - in  _ two _ wars - so that he didn’t have to. You’ve bled and you’ve sacrificed so that that kid didn’t have to. He  _ chose _ to pick up that gun - he wasn’t forced to. He wasn’t a child soldier like you were. He was with a shit group of people and I get that they were  _ his _ people but he didn’t have to pull a gun on a man trying to save a woman’s life. You do protect kids like him. Of course he didn’t deserve to die.”

Wufei swallowed hard at that and Trowa reached out and grabbed his hand. He laced their fingers together and squeezed. 

“He deserved to live - he deserved to live a long life and become a chemist who saved lives or hell, even a drunk who abused his kids. He deserved that chance and  _ he _ threw it away. Not Wufei. Not you.”

“How do you do it?” Duo asked in a whisper, his eyes still wet, red rimmed and filled with despair.

“How do I do what?” Trowa asked neutrally, though he felt confident he knew what Duo was really asking. 

“I fought in those wars to put a stop to governments who murdered innocent people. I fought so that - I fought so there would never be another  _ me _ and every time I go out there, I see more mes. Everywhere. Kids starving and forgotten and  _ punished _ for daring to survive. And look at me  _ now _ . I’ve grown out of child soldier and into adult government assassin. Government murderer. I - how do you do it, Trowa? How do you do all the dirty shit Une gives you and stay sane? Or are you?”

It wasn’t fair, the question, the way Duo looked at him, the way Trowa was trapped with his back against the bed and Wufei on one side of him and Duo on the other.

Trowa swallowed back the panic that clawed at him and met Duo’s gaze. 

Wufei had never asked, and before that moment Trowa had never wondered  _ why _ Wufei hadn’t asked - he had just been grateful that he never had.

The dilemma these two were working through - Wufei killing a boy to save Duo’s life - was nothing compared to what Trowa had to face  _ every  _ time he went out into the field on an undercover assignment. He never got the simple, uncomplicated infiltration missions. As Duo had said, Une gave him the dirty shit, missions that would have other operatives balking or threatening to whistleblow over. But other operatives didn’t understand the fine balance between order and chaos. Other operatives hadn’t assumed the identity of a man bleeding out in front of him. Not even Duo, Wufei or Heero had done the things that Trowa had - had  _ knowingly _ made the choices and sacrifices that Trowa had during and since the war.

Trowa had always been good at compartmentalizing and prioritizing, but they were skills that he had had to hone to a fine, razor sharp edge since the war. An edge that was now, under Duo’s gaze and the pressure of Wufei’s fingers, starting to give.

“Just as sane as I ever was,” he assured Duo. 

He didn’t need to say any more.

Duo looked away, and beside him, Trowa felt Wufei shift uneasily. There would, Trowa knew, be words between them later. Words and raised voices and quiet, cutting threats that would keep both of them up late into the night for weeks to come. Wufei had never asked before, but now that Duo had, Trowa knew there would be hell to pay.

“I should go,” Duo said and got to his feet. “I... “ he trailed off and shook his head before walking away.

Trowa snorted bitterly.

“Poison the well and then run as far and fast as you can? Typical Maxwell style.”

Duo’s shoulders stiffened.

“Yeah, well, nothing else I can do, is there?”

“What the hell does that mean?” Wufei demanded.

Duo looked over his shoulder at them, eyes glancing off their faces and down to their joined hands before he shook his head.

“Nothing. I shouldn’t have said anything. Ever.”

Wufei gave a derisive laugh. “Truer words were never spoken.”

Duo whirled back around. “Listen, Chang, just because I -”

“Shut up,” Trowa said tiredly.

Duo’s eyes were furious, his body tensed for another fight, but then, after a silent, angry moment, all of the energy seemed to drain from Duo’s body. 

“I’m sorry,” Duo said, the words so quiet Trowa almost lost them. 

“If you hate this all so much, why not just get out?” Trowa asked.

Duo fiddled with the end of his braid, uncharacteristically at a loss for words.

“What else would I even do? I’m not good for anything but this. I - I don’t belong out there,” he hooked a thumb towards the world outside their window. “I don’t belong with  _ them _ .”

It was exactly how Trowa felt about himself, and judging from the way Duo’s eyes flickered to his own, Duo knew it too.

Wufei, however, dropped Trowa’s hand and rose to his feet.

“I never knew you were so full of shit, Maxwell,” he snarled.

Duo looked shocked.

“You could do  _ anything _ . You’re brilliant and driven and you have the ability - the  _ choice _ \- to devote your life to anything you want. You’re scared and you’re using this as an excuse - you’re hiding from reality and you’re trying to drag us down into your misery.”

“No,” Duo argued. “I’m not trying to drag either of you anywhere - why the hell do you think I try so damn hard to stay away from you two? Why do you think I never come over for dinner? Why do you think I - I let myself have two hours a week with Trowa in the garage and five arguments with you and then I stop because any more would be too much. I didn’t ask for you to bring me here. I didn’t ask for this intervention or whatever the fuck it is that Trowa manipulated this into.  _ You’re _ the one dragging me places, Wufei.”

Trowa hadn’t known about the dinner invitations that, presumably, Wufei had extended. He also hadn’t realized that Duo was keeping a timer on their garage time. But now, looking back, he could see that pattern to things, could remember the way Duo would call a halt to their current project even when it wasn’t an ideal stopping point, could recall the times he had seen Duo walk away from Wufei, letting him have the last word or ignoring a chance to get into a verbal sparring match when Wufei had left himself wide open.

“Why?” He asked.

Duo looked between Wufei and Trowa and he looked just as trapped as Trowa had felt moments before.

“Because I want too much,” Duo admitted. “Because I see you two and I - I want too much.”

None of them were idiots and maybe, before Duo had said that, it had never occurred to Trowa - had possibly never occurred to Wufei - that Duo was attracted to both of them, but there was no mistaking what Duo was saying. What he  _ wasn’t _ saying.

Duo looked like a man facing a firing squad, as he waited for Trowa and Wufei to pass judgement. His anxiety turned to shock, though, when Wufei grabbed him by the shoulders and kissed him.

Duo froze, his eyes wide, his hands loose by his sides and his shoulders raised in an aborted effort to prepare for an attack.

Years ago, when Trowa and Wufei had first made the transition from occasional post-workout hook up to actual relationship, they had gotten drunk one night and admitted to all sorts of ridiculous things, from Wufei’s fear of lobsters to Trowa’s desire to try on women’s hosiery, but the most revealing thing to come from that night had been their shared attraction to Duo. Neither of them had ever acted on it - before or since, to Trowa’s knowledge - but they had both confessed to finding him desirable, to having occasionally fantasized about him. 

Even so, even knowing that, Trowa was almost as surprised by Wufei’s actions as Duo himself was. 

Talking about an idle attraction and  _ acting _ on it were, after all, two very different things. Of course, having watched Wufei practically drink in the sight of Duo’s naked body the day before, Trowa probably shouldn’t be at all surprised. Especially not since he had thought they might have slept together on their mission.

He should, realistically, be hurt. He should be jealous and he should be getting up and pushing them apart and maybe even leaving himself in an angry, bitter rage.

But he wasn’t hurt. He wasn’t even jealous - not like he had been yesterday while watching Wufei. If anything…

If anything, Trowa was aroused by the sight. Especially when Duo finally got over his shock and lifted his hands to Wufei’s waist and pulled him close, when his eyes closed and he angled his head towards Wufei and deepened the kiss.

He saw Duo’s hands fist into Wufei’s shirt at the small of his back, twisting and tugging at the fabric until it was free from his trousers and Duo pushed it up to touch Wufei’s bare skin.

He saw Wufei bury his hands in the hair at the base of Duo’s skull, saw his hips shift closer to Duo’s until their entire bodies were flush against one another.

Trowa wondered if Wufei was doing that thing with his teeth, biting down on Duo’s lip the way he so often did to Trowa, applying enough pressure to be just this side of painful.

Duo pulled back suddenly, his eyes wild, cheeks pink and lips wet, and looked from Wufei to Trowa.

“We - I - what the hell are we doing?”

“It looks like you’re trying to stick your tongue down Wufei’s throat,” Trowa observed.

Duo’s face turned red and Wufei looked over at Trowa, dark eyes unreadable but certainly not even a little apologetic.

“It looks like you’re enjoying the view,” he said, one corner of his mouth turned up.

At some point in the earlier struggle, Trowa had lost the towel around his waist and he was now completely naked, sitting on the floor, watching his partner kiss another man, and he made no move to hide his erection as Duo’s wide eyes settled on it.

“It’s an unexpected addition to the itinerary,”’ Trowa had to say.

“Yes,” Wufei agreed, still without remorse. “But not a bad one.”

It wasn’t a question - not that Trowa had expected it to be. If Wufei wanted something, he got it, consequences be damned. And in this case, well, Wufei knew that Trowa was attracted to Duo. Even if they had never discussed the possibility of inviting him to their bed, they had never said they  _ wouldn’t _ . Had never said they didn’t  _ want _ to.

So why had Trowa felt jealous yesterday? What about Wufei watching Duo undress had upset him that watching Wufei  _ kiss _ Duo didn’t? 

Because Wufei had known he was watching, this time. Wufei hadn’t been oblivious to Trowa’s presence, for all that he had been focused on kissing Duo. Wufei had  _ wanted _ him to watch and had wanted him to  _ want _ to watch.

“No, it’s not,” Trowa agreed and Wufei smirked. 

“What - this isn’t what I thought would happen when you two dragged me here,” Duo was confused and clearly trying to stall while he figured out what to do.

“Ours either,” Wufei said and then he frowned. “This is something you want, isn’t it?”

Duo’s face turned red again. “Well, yeah, but...you two - this - this is crazy, isn’t it?”

“I thought we’d already gone over the lack of sanity in our present company,” Trowa murmured.

Duo’s lips twitched at the joke. “Yeah, I just…” he scratched at the back of his neck. “I just, ah, we were  _ just _ fighting and now… this?”

“We were fighting because you seem to be harboring under the illusion that you’re life doesn’t have any value while  _ we _ ,” Wufei gestured between himself and Trowa, “have never thought that was the case. Us wanting you in our bed is part of that.”

“You’re… sure about that?” Duo asked, as if he still couldn’t really believe this was happening.

Wufei looked over at Trowa, giving him the chance to say no.

“Yes,” Trowa said and stood up. “We’re sure.”

Duo still hesitated and after a moment he shook his head. “So, what, all this time you two have been waiting to fuck me? Maybe  _ you’re _ patient enough for that, Trowa, but Wufei isn’t. You really expect me to believe this isn’t about… pity or anger or - hell, I don’t know.”

“I think we already established that you don’t know,” Trowa agreed and Duo glared at him. “No, we haven’t been trying to get you into bed with us for years or even waiting for the right moment to suggest it. Frankly, I never thought you would be interested. If I had, my plan would certainly be more elaborate than forcing a confrontation between you and Wufei and then taking advantage of you.”

Duo snorted and Wufei raised an eyebrow.

“What?” Trowa asked him.

Wufei shrugged. “It actually  _ does _ sound like something you would plan,” he mused.

Duo nodded in agreement.

“Of course,” Wufei added, “if this is plan the two of us were supposed to have concocted together, we would have finessed it some.”

“You think my plans lack finesse?”

Wufei shrugged lazily. “Not always. But don’t you think  _ this _ plan could benefit from some?”

There was a wicked glint in Wufei’s eyes. Having been on the receiving end of such a look in the past, Trowa knew that only good things would come from it. So he smirked and nodded in agreement.

“What -”

“For example, it’s all well and good to have Maxwell off balance from our argument and… physical exertions, but that doesn’t exactly move things forward, does it?” Wufei asked.

“No,” Trowa agreed. “What did you have in mind?”

“You mean for our diabolical-years-in-the-making seduction plan?” Wufei stepped closer to Duo and circled around behind him.

Duo looked nervous and only just stopped himself from turning to see what Wufei was doing.

“I think it’s important to keep him off balance, of course, but he needs the proper motivation to actually get him into bed with us.”

“And what motivation do you think would work best in this situation?” Trowa asked.

Duo licked his lips and looked over at Trowa, his dark gaze searching. 

“Maxwell works best when presented with a task someone has deemed impossible for  _ him _ to complete,” Wufei mused. “Now, just what task can we give him that he couldn’t possibly fulfill?”

“He also does well when forced into competition,” Trowa pointed out.

“Very true.” Wufei tapped a finger against his lips and shot Trowa an appraising look. “It seems  _ you _ are already naked, while Maxwell and I are fully clothed.” Wufei plucked at the shoulder of Duo’s shirt. “Do you think he’s capable of undressing in front of us?”

Duo rolled his eyes. “You’ve both seen me naked - you’ve seen me naked this  _ weekend _ .”

“Not as a prelude to fucking you,” Trowa said.

He could see Duo react to the word, could see him shiver and something shift in his eyes.

“But I’m more curious to see if he can stand to  _ let _ you undress him,” Trowa spoke up when Duo moved his hands to start unbuttoning his shirt.

Wufei smirked even as Duo froze.

The dark haired man moved around to stand in front of Duo and smoothed his hands up Duo’s chest.

Duo visibly tensed, but he made no move to stop Wufei as he slowly worked the top button of his shirt free.

Button by button, Wufei unfastened the shirt until it was completely open and then he pushed it off of Duo’s shoulders and down his arms. Duo obligingly wriggled his wrists free from the cuffs, but offered no other assistance or interference.

Wufei ran his hands back up Duo’s arms, over his shoulders, and across his chest, tracing over his lean muscles and the lifetime of scars he had accumulated. Duo was every bit the warrior that Wufei and Trowa were. Built differently - thinner, with a wiry strength that had surprised both Wufei and Trowa on more than one occasion. He was taller than Wufei, but the dark haired man was broader and more athletic while Trowa had several inches and pounds on both of them, his frame inescapably Terran in comparison to theirs.

Wufei skimmed over Duo’s abs, the other man shuddering at the touch, and rested his hands on the waistband of Duo’s trousers. 

“He’s been good so far,” Wufei remarked, glancing over his shoulder at Trowa.

“He has,” Trowa agreed. He walked over to them and stood behind Duo, close enough that his chest pressed against the other man’s back.

He heard and felt Duo’s sharp inhale as Trowa wrapped his arms around his waist and ran his fingers over his skin for the first time. 

“Hopefully I won’t be too much of a distraction,” he said before angling his head down to place a kiss on the side of Duo’s neck.

Duo snorted, but he tilted his head to the side to allow Trowa better access.

In front of them, Wufei leaned forward and kissed Duo again, taking him by surprise. 

Trowa held Duo steady when he rocked forward into Wufei and under his palm he felt Duo’s wildly beating heart.

When Wufei pulled back, Duo groaned and Trowa took the opportunity to bite down on his neck. The groan turned into a hiss and then a moan as Trowa laved at the spot with his tongue.

“Fuck, you two are impossible,” Duo breathed.

Wufei chuckled and Trowa had to smirk. They did, he had always thought, make rather a good team.

“Shall I move on to these?” Wufei asked as he tugged at the trouser waistband.

“Yeah,” Duo moaned as Trowa continued to lick and bite his way across his shoulder. “I’d definitely be more comfortable.”

The front of his trousers had an unmistakable bulge. Wufei ran his hand over it, his touch light and teasing, and Duo rocked forward against his palm. 

“Don’t tell me you’re going to start obstructing my progress?” Wufei asked. “You’ve been doing so well up until now.”

Duo shook his head. “Yeah, silly me. Unable to stay completely still when I have the men of my dreams undressing me and - I swear to  _ God _ , Barton if you give me a hickey I will kick your ass.”

Trowa smirked but he moved on, finding a new spot on Duo’s shoulders to kiss and lick and bite.

Wufei stopped him, however, by reaching a hand out to guide Trowa’s chin away from Duo and towards his own face.

They kissed, lips and tongues moving languidly together, their touch and feel so familiar to Trowa by now but no less erotic for that. Even after living together for three years - even after fucking each other for nearly five years - each kiss, each touch, filled Trowa with a kind of aching wonder. 

He had never seen his life taking this direction - had never even seen his life  _ continuing _ for so long. He had always imagined that by the age of twenty-five he would be dead in a gutter on some colony, not living with a man who knew Trowa and  _ understood _ him in ways Trowa had never thought possible. Accepted him, for all of his flaws, all of his defects, all of his darkness and despite all that he was lacking.

The sex had always been good - Wufei was too much of a perfectionist and Trowa too obsessive for it to be anything less - but it was never routine. Maybe it had something to do with Trowa being away so often and for so long, but Trowa suspected it was all the things that  _ weren’t _ sex that made it good, that always left Trowa struggling to return from bliss, that left Wufei blinking back tears.

Between them, Duo’s breath caught and he shifted his weight back against Trowa.

Trowa steadied Duo with a hand on his hip and he felt Duo’s fingers between his own, felt the familiar, strong grip.

He wasn’t sure who it was - Wufei or Duo or even himself - but someone moved closer and it only felt natural to angle his face, to turn towards Duo until he felt the tentative press of the other man’s lips against his own while Wufei’s mouth trailed across his cheek.

There had always been a lot of baggage between Trowa and Duo - too much shit had gone on during the wars, Trowa suspected, for either of them to ever feel completely at ease in each other’s company. Trowa would always wonder if Duo was finally ready to exact revenge for the wrongs he had suffered at Trowa’s hands, and Duo, Trowa thought, would always wonder just how easy it had been for Trowa to do those things, how easy it would be for him to do them again.

Now, though, feeling the question, the uncertainty, in Duo’s touch, Trowa realized he had probably been wrong. Unless Duo was a much, much better actor than he had ever demonstrated possible, Duo wasn’t being tentative out of a lack of trust - he had no idea what he was doing.

Wufei, single-minded as always, probably hadn’t even realized it when he had kissed Duo, had probably not even felt the way Duo’s pulse fluttered or the way he pressed forward before pulling back.

Trowa’s first instinct was to pull back himself, to look at Duo and figure out if his read was correct, but he knew that would ruin this - would humiliate Duo and, if not put a permanent end to this possibility, certainly put up a huge obstacle. 

Duo was honest, and for all his self-loathing, he would never do something he didn’t want to do. So, if he wasn’t speaking up, if he wasn’t saying  _ no _ or  _ I don’t know what to do _ , then it was because he didn’t want to, not because he couldn’t.

So Trowa followed Duo’s lead and he didn’t say anything. 

He squeezed their joined hands on Duo’s hip, hoping to convey to Duo what he had just realized, and almost instantly Duo relaxed against him, lips parting under Trowa’s and his body fitting perfectly against Trowa’s.

Trowa, who had been on the receiving end of Wufei’s intensity many times, imagined that more of the same might overwhelm Duo. So he took care to keep the kiss light and teasing, sweeping his tongue into Duo’s mouth to taste him before moving on to trace it over his lips.

Duo moaned into his mouth and tried to turn into him but Wufei made a tsking sound.

Trowa broke away from Duo to arch an eyebrow at Wufei as his partner stood back and crossed his arms.

“You  _ are _ too much of a distraction,” Wufei explained.

Trowa had to smirk at that and Duo gave a breathy chuckle.

“Sorry,” Trowa said, though he wasn’t in the least.

Wufei shook his head but his eyes were warm, his lips curved upwards and Trowa felt as much as heard Duo suck in a breath when Wufei turned his attention back to Duo.

“Now, where were we?” Wufei asked as he stepped close again.

Trowa, now that he knew what to look for, watched Duo shiver under Wufei’s touch as the other man ran his hands slowly down Duo’s chest and ran the tips of his fingers over the waistband of his trousers.

Duo was excited, was definitely aroused and very eager judging by the bulge and the wet spot on the front of his trousers, but he was also nervous. Practically skittish, now that Trowa thought about it, now that he watched Duo’s reactions to Wufei’s touch, to  _ his _ touch as Trowa ran his hands over Duo’s spine.

Trowa looked over Duo’s shoulder and saw Wufei, smirking as he leaned in close and placed an open mouthed kiss on Duo’s sternum before slowly working his way down Duo’s lean torso, kissing and licking a trail to where his hands rested.

Duo shuddered and made an inarticulate sound as Wufei nipped at the skin just above his navel.

Trowa pushed Duo’s hair to one side and placed a kiss just below his hairline before working his way down Duo’s back in a mirror of Wufei’s actions.

He felt Duo clutch at their joined hands, felt him shiver and heard his ragged breaths.

Wufei tugged at the trousers and boxers and Trowa helped, pushing them down, over the curve of Duo’s hips and ass. He had to let go of Duo’s hand, and as he pushed the clothes down, Trowa’s 

fingers tangled with Wufei’s on Duo’s thighs.

“I, ah,” Duo cleared his throat and he grabbed their hands with his own, stopping them from moving back up.

He sounded anxious, and Trowa wondered if they had pushed too far - wondered if Duo was about to call a halt to this.

“I’ve never done any of this before - with anyone,” Duo said bluntly.

Trowa saw Wufei’s brows draw together but then he gave a brief nod.

“Tell us what you want to do.”

The request seemed to baffle Duo.

“I, well, I  _ want _ to do it all - I just don’t - I’ve seen porn. I know how it  _ works _ but…”

Trowa couldn’t help but chuckle as he pressed a kiss to Duo’s shoulder again.

“You’ve read the manual but you haven’t seen a practice run of the problem?”

Duo laughed as well and Wufei smirked.

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Want me to spot you?” Trowa asked, teasing.

“Yeah, actually,” Duo turned his head and looked directly at Trowa. “That would be good.”

Trowa hadn’t really intended to carry the bouldering metaphor any further, but…

He freed their hands from Wufei’s and placed Duo’s hands on Wufei’s shoulders.

“Want me to walk you through undressing him?”

Duo snorted. “No, I think I’ve got that part on my own.”

Wufei raised an eyebrow, a look that would be a challenge in any other situation.

Maybe it was, even now.

Duo worked quickly, not bothering with the deliberate teasing that Wufei had treated him to earlier.

While Duo worked to undress Wufei, Trowa kept his own hands from being idle by running them over Duo’s back, across his shoulders, and down to his hips, letting his fingers graze over the scars he found, mementos of all the things they had lost.

Duo fumbled a bit, when he got to the fly of Wufei’s trousers, and Wufei reached down to help him but Duo batted his hands away.

Wufei smirked a little, at that, but he folded his arms across his chest and let Duo finish undressing him.

He was only half-hard, the skin of his cock pale and smooth.

“Now what?” Duo asked. 

“That depends,” Trowa said. He stepped closer to Duo, pressing Duo’s back against his front, moving his cock up so that it was pressed between their bodies.

Duo sucked in a breath and in front of them, Wufei’s eyes narrowed.

“Depends on what?” Duo asked.

“On you,” Wufei answered for Trowa. “On what you want to do. Or,” Wufei added after a hesitation and a roll of his eyes, as if he knew he would regret saying it, “ _ who _ you want to do.”

Duo snorted a laugh. “It killed you to say that, didn’t it?”

“I’m still breathing. Barely.”

“What do you normally - I don’t want to mess anything up.”

“You won’t,” Trowa assured him. He circled his hands around Duo’s hips and slowly edged his fingers towards Duo’s groin. It was clear that Duo was thinking too much, questioning himself and  _ this _ and Trowa could think of no better distraction than simply encouraging Duo to just act.

Duo remained silent, breath rapid and shallow, as Trowa threaded his fingers through Duo’s pubic hair and then wrapped one hand around the base of Duo’s cock. 

“But,” Trowa added after Duo groaned at the touch, “Wufei prefers to bottom. He also prefers to be very, very bossy. I’m sure that doesn’t come as a shock to you.”

Wufei glared but Duo chuckled, the sound uneven and raw and it made Trowa’s pulse quicken. He’d never heard Duo like that before, amused and aroused at the same time. It was, he decided, a very good sound.

“So,” Trowa said against the side of Duo’s neck, “do you want to fuck him or should I?”

Duo moaned and rocked into Trowa’s hand, whether in response to Trowa’s question or to the attention Trowa was paying his cock was unclear. But a moment later, Duo reached out and pulled Wufei close, wrapping his arms around the other man’s neck and kissing him with a confidence and hunger that he hadn’t demonstrated before.

Trowa had to smirk at Wufei’s momentary look of surprise before he closed his eyes and returned the kiss, before he reached out with one hand to tug at the short hairs on the nape of Trowa’s neck in a gesture that was both a reprimand and a tease.

“I want to fuck you,” Duo gasped as he pulled back from the kiss, his focus still on Wufei. “If that’s -”

“Yes,” Wufei practically growled.

“And I’ll continue to spot you,” Trowa said.

“Are you sure? Is that -”

“It’s what I want to do.”

Guiding Duo as he touched Wufei turned out to be one of the most erotic things Trowa had ever done. 

He already knew how to touch Wufei, already knew the landscape of his body, the places to avoid, the ways to have him arching up and moaning. Teaching those to Duo, lacing their fingers together and running them over Wufei’s body, their tongues laving at his flesh side by side, was exhilarating. 

Wufei panted and begged, hands fisting into the sheets of the bed as Duo learned what to do, as he experimented and found his own path, his own way to bring Wufei pleasure. 

Trowa showed Duo how to prepare Wufei, how to finger him until Wufei’s legs were spread wide and his eyes squeezed shut and Duo, sitting between Wufei’s legs, looked at the other man as if he was just seeing him for the first time.

Wufei in the throes of passion, hair wild and body reacting to every touch, was truly a sight to behold and Trowa could understand Duo’s amazement. This Wufei was so very, very different from the Wufei who wore a starched uniform and an  _ ironed _ tie, from the Wufei who was so efficient as to be labeled ruthless by some when out in the field, from the Wufei who had fought in two wars as a teenager. He had always had this passion, always had this wild dedication - but seeing him naked and without control, focused purely on pleasure, was different.

Trowa watched Duo ease his cock into Wufei’s body, felt the tremor that went through Duo as he was enveloped by the tight, impossible heat of Wufei’s body and he reached out to stroke Wufei’s cock while Duo tried to find the right rhythm, slow, long thrusts that were clearly driving Wufei crazy but gave Duo the control he seemed to need.

And even though Trowa’s cock was hard and throbbing, the head wet with precum and his balls tight and heavy, Trowa managed to keep from touching himself, to keep his focus entirely on the other two men, until Wufei came.

Seeing Wufei’s head thrown back, the long column of his neck arched and his thighs trembling, was too much for Trowa’s self-control.

He reached down to touch his own cock, but Duo caught his hand.

“Please, I want you - I want you in me,” Duo grunted as he continued to thrust into Wufei’s body.

Trowa had to laugh before he kissed Duo.

“You’re too greedy,” Trowa said when he pulled away. “You’ve never done this before - take it one step at a time.”

Duo still looked a little mutinous.

“Next time,” Trowa assured him.

The words seemed to confuse Duo, and he stared at Trowa for a moment before looking back at Wufei, finally recovered.

“Yeah?” Duo made it into a question.

“Yes,” Wufei agreed and he grasped Duo’s hips with his hands. “Now please stop torturing both of us with this pace.”

Duo chuckled but he complied. “Bossy indeed.”

When Duo came, when he thrust hard and deep into Wufei’s body and gave a low, keening moan, Trowa held him steady while Wufei looked at them with dark, lust filled eyes.

“Maybe I should take a turn spotting Duo,” Wufei mused while Duo leaned back against Trowa and drew in deep, steadying breaths.

“What?” Duo sounded a little dazed.

Wufei arched an eyebrow at him. “Want me to show you how Trowa likes to have his cock sucked?”

Trowa could feel Duo nod eagerly.

They more or less tackled him, and Trowa let them have their way with his body, let Wufei show Duo all the ways to make him cry out, even let Wufei show Duo where he was ticklish.

And he couldn’t help but think, as unplanned as all of this was, as difficult as it had been to arrive at this point, it more than made up for Duo rejecting his playlist out of hand.

  
  


-o-

Endnote: Hey! If you’re enjoying the 31 Days of Smut, or just my writing in general, check out the ebook I published on Amazon it’s cheap (or free if you have Kindle Unlimited) and super smutty. It’s Ponyboy by C. Barton.


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